Robert hen b age



n. HENEAGE.

Car Starter.

Patented Feb. 26, 1867,

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Letters Patent No. 62,419, dated Fcirrmrg/ 26, 1867.

IMPROVED PROPELLING GAR-BRAKE.

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TO ALL WI-IOM IT MAY CONCERN':

Be it known that I, ROBERT IIENEAGE, of the city ofABnihrlo, in the count-y of Erie, and Stato of New York, have invented a new and improved Propelling Brake; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part oi' this specification, in which--q Figure l is a longitudinal vertical section of a car provided withmyimprovements.

Figure 2 is a plan view, with part broken away.

Figure 3 is a rear elevation.

The object of my improvement is the construction of suitable apparatus in connection with the brakes of cars, especially those drawn by horses on street railroads, by which the momentum of the car in stopping is stored up, to be utilized to overcome the inertia of the car in starting; `and the invention consists of a spring, connected' by a bar or other suitable mea-ns te a brake, consisting of'two pressure or friction surfaces, so jointed to said conneetingbar that they may be applied to opposite sides of the'wheel, (which is preferably a sepa-rate wheel. of suitable size, mounted centrally on one of the axlcs,) either or both at a time, by a combination of levers or other suitable mechanism, in such a manner thatl when one of the brake-bars is applied to the wheel, it will first be moved a short distance endwiseby a movement similar to that of a rack when operated by a pinion, which compresses the spring by means of the bar connecting therewith and then by applying the other brake and releasing the first the recoiling force of the spring, by acting through the medium of the brake on the opposite side oi' the wheel, will have a tendency to start the car again, and thereby relieve the horses of that .great strain to which they would otherwise be subjected in overcoming the inertia of a loaded car; and by applying both brakes simultaneously, the amount of friction on the wheel is doubled.

In the drawings, A represents the body or bottom of an ordinary street railroad car B B, the wheels, and C C the two axles of the same. At the centre df either axle, asv most convenient, I mount afriction-wheel, D, of any suitable size and width of face, to which are applied at top and bottom the two brake-bars E E. These bars are, preferably, curved at their inner ends, and pivoted at a a to a short cross-head, b, of a horizontal bar, F, as represented. The opposite end of this bar F (which is the connecting-bar above referred to) passes into a cylindrical case, G, formed in the lower portion of a bearing or pendent support, I-I, secured in any suitable manner to the bottom of the car. In this case and around the bar'is coiled a spring, g or equivalent, against the end of which presses the flange or col-lar z' ot' the bar F, when the brake is operated, and compresses the spring, as will presently be described. The bar F is provided with a pin, t or equivalent, to prevent its with drawal from the bearing by the recoil of the spring. I do not design to confine myself to the use of any particular kind of spring to receive the action of the brake, as the ordinary elliptic springs, or any other of sucicnt stiffness, may be employed and produce the same effect.. The amount or distance of the compression .and recoil ofthe spring is immaterial, as the great object to be attained is to simply overcome the inertia ofthe car, for which a slight movement sufces.

The brake-bars EE are operated by the following device: I I are pendent brackets or frames, secured to the under side of the bottom of the car, in which are formed in any suitable manner bearings m m, to receive the adjustable boxes jj of the journals of two small rollers c c', one immediately abov'e the bar E, and the other immediately below E. The journals of the roller e project beyond'its boxes 7' on either side and through the ends of arms d ci, which extend upward and are jointed to the end of a horizontal lever, e, at n, which has its fulcrum in pivots o o in the frames I.- To the other end of lever e is jointed an arm g, which passes up through the bottom ofthe car, and terminates in a foot-piece or head, n', by which it is operated. The upper roller e is operated by a lcver,f, similar to e, except that it 'has its fulcrum at its end, by being piveted to the frames I at p. The boxes j are attached to f by short arms s, shown in ig.. l. The other end of the lever f is connected with an upright arm g, which terminates in a foot-piece, 7L, similar to the corresponding parts g r of the lever e. The levers e f are provided with springs Q Q, secured to the bottoni of the car, (shown most clearly in iigs. 2i and 3,) which sustain the ends ofthe former, and thereby keep the rollers from pressing the brake-bars when their use is not required. rllhe mechanism which I have just described for operating the brake-bars it is evident can be somewhat varied and still accomplish the same result in substantially the same manner. i

The operation of my improvements thus constructed-is as follows: Supposethe car to be moving in the direction shown by the arrow in fig. 1, and it is required to be stopped. In such case, pressure is applied upon the foot-piece h, depressing it and the end of theleverf, which forces down in their bearings the boxes y' of the roller c, the latter of which presses the hrakehar Eudown upon the wheel D with greater or less force, as required The friction between the contiguous or bearing surfaces of E D (which may be of any suitable construction for the purpose) first carries the brake and bar F forward, as shown in red lines, fig. 1, compressing the spring, and then stopping the car. When it is desired to 'start the car, pressure is applied to the other foot-piece r, which, through the medium ofthe connecting-arm d, draws up the roller c that presses the har E against the wheel D, when, by removing 4the pressure fromthe brake E, the force of thc recoil of .the spring r, acting through brake E', on the under side of the wheel, operates to start or to assist in starting the car. A fiat'spring secured-to the cross-head b, so as to press against the under side of the bar E, or other suitable device, may be employed to keep the brake from contact with the wheel when it is in operation. It is a wellknown fact that the horses employed onstreet railroads endure the service for a few years only at the longest and a few months, and even a'few weeks, are sometimes sufficient to 'render them unfit for service.. This premature destruction of their usefulness is mainly to be attributed to the excessive exertion they arerequired toput forth at almost every crossing, in starting, to overcome the inertia of a car weighing several tons, with the addition of a heavy load of passengers. A single eifort of this kind frequently causes such a strain as to oeeasona permanent injury to the powers of the animal. The use of my improvement relieves the animal of this excessive strain, as the power which is stored up inthe compressed springtwhch may be made of the requisitestitness) is sutiicient to overcome the inertia, so that it is not necessary for the team to exercise any more strength in starting than is required to draw the vehicle after it has been put in motion. It is evident that my improvement is equally adapted for use on cars drawn by a locomotive, where it relieves the engine of a corresponding amount of strain.

What I claim as my invention, and desirc to secure hy Letters Iatent, is-

1. The combination of the friction-wheel D, curved brake-bars E E, pivoted to the spring-rod F; sliding,

rollers c c', with their actuating-rods; and foot-levers L r, arranged and operating as and for the purposes set forth.

2. I also claim the double-acting brake, consisting ofthe two pivoted brake-hars E E', capab'le of alternate and conjoint application to a friction-wheel, I), substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

3. I also claim the rollers c e', provided with movnbleboxesj, when used in operating the brake-bars E E', for the purpose and in the manner specified.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my n'ame in the preseneeof two subscribing witnesses.

ROBT. HENEAGE.

Witnesses JAY HYATT, LYMAN P. PERKINS. 

